What it's really like to ditch tampons and pads for a 'menstrual cup'

It's a cup you put in your vaj, FYI

WTF is a menstrual cup?

What is says on the tin, a menstrual cup is a reusable cup you put in your vagina to collect menstrual blood. You'd use it instead of a pad or a tampon.

Why are they meant to be so great?

They save you moneyUnlike tampons, menstrual cups are reusable. One of the most well-known brands, Mooncup, costs £19.99 but can last for years. Sticking with reusable protection also means you never have to carry around spares.

They're better for your vajMooncups are made of medical grade silicon and won't absorb the vagina's natural moisture like a tampon does, so they won't leave your vagina dry, or leave behind any fibres.

You're saving the EarthTampons either end up in a landfill or in the sea, and most of us use 11,000 of them in our lifetime.

If you have further questions, you can watch this handy battle rap:

Inserting the cup…

Mooncups come in two sizes, size A (4.6cm) and size B (4.3cm).

Mooncup

Even the smaller size is considerably wider than a super-size tampon, so putting it in takes a bit of getting used to.

To insert the cup I folded it in half, and then in half again, and pushed it in (with the stem at the bottom) until the stem was fully inside.

Initially, I could still feel the cup, but after a short walk around it felt fine. According to the instructions, the end of the stem is supposed to sit just inside your vagina, and if it's too long you can trim it with scissors (after taking it out obv).

The first few times you use a Mooncup it's probably best to be at home, as relaxing is key to getting your vaj to co-operate. But, as with your first-time tampon struggles (What if I just DON'T have a vagina?!), it quickly gets much easier.

Taking it out…

After smugly patting myself on the back for inserting the thing in the first place, I thought retrieving it would be NBD. Not so.

When I realised the cup wouldn't budge, my response was, of course, to calmly re-read the instructions. HA NO.

Displaying zero chill, I panic-texted a Mooncup-using friend and daydreamed about a future where the Mooncup just NEVER came out.

Would I ever have sex again? Get married? Have children? At what stage of dating someone do you tell them you have a large piece of silicon stuck in your vagina?

But the wisdom I needed was actually all there in the instruction leaflet:

"If you cannot reach the Mooncup you will need to use your vaginal muscles to ease the Mooncup down. This is done through a sequence of slow, gentle downward pushes (rather than one long hard push)."

Phew.

It gets easier after a couple of uses, I promise.

So, about rinsing it out at work...

Thankfully, one of the loos at work has a sink in the cubicle, meaning washing the cup out during the day wasn't a problem - although it is a bit 'hands on'. Once you've poured its contents down the loo, it also doesn't take long to rinse the cup totally clean. If none of the loos at your workplace have a sink, the leaflet advises bringing a small bottle of water so you can rinse it over the toilet.

If you're not totally sold on this idea, remember you can keep the cup in for up to eight hours, and it can hold at least three times as much fluid as a tampon, so changes don't need to be regular. It's also fine to go to the loo while wearing the cup.

The verdict

A menstrual cup does hold a lot of blood, but I also found there can be some leakage. This may improve as your insertion skills get better, but until you've tested it out a few times I'd recommend also using a pad.

Although the leaflet suggests that menstrual cups are fine to use from your first period, I definitely wouldn't have been confident doing so, and inserting one would surely be more tricky for anyone who has a hymen.

Most aspects of using a menstrual cup take some time to get used to and, according to the manufacturers, it takes three periods to be fully comfortable with one. Mooncup also run a helpline staffed by nurses for users who are struggling.

On the whole, using a menstrual cup was less scary than I'd imagined, and a lot more effective. I'd definitely use it again if I didn't have to go to work, but on the whole, I'm lazy, and it's a bit of a faff.

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